TW870 wrote:Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but I wonder if the mods can consider ways to break up the giant, catch-all threads on broad topics. In particular, I am referring to the 737 Max thread. I try to wade into that thread for information about the re-certification process. But it is so hostile and there is so much drama, that finding actual news is like finding a needle in a haystack. I think this is in part because the thread is so broad that we end up in a situation where anything goes. I would like to see it cut up, with one thread for recertification, another for discussion of the technical issues, another for the marketing and capacity issues of the operators, etc. - so we would have at least some greater chance of finding news and skilled dialogue. Compared to decades past, the moderating has moved to a consolidated model, where topics are pooled into large threads. This is just a suspicion, but I think it might contribute to how hostile the forum has become.
This is a bit of a touchy subject with some people. We try our best to find a happy medium with the consolidated threads, but it will never appease most people.
Here's our dilemma — some users want large consolidated threads to limit the duplication of discussion across multiple threads; other users want individual threads on every nuanced topic regardless of discussion duplication. Obviously we don't want everything in combined threads, but we don't want tons of nuanced threads either. Either extreme would drive everyone nuts, so we have to settle somewhere in the middle. Managing that balance is really complicated, and I don't think we've managed to get it quite right yet.
We generally like consolidated threads because it makes for a more free-flowing discussion. It means the are fewer off topic comments for us to delete. However, many subjects are noteworthy enough to warrant their own unique discussion.
We get a lot of flak from a number of users when we allow splinter threads, but I totally understand that it's hard to muddle through the mega threads. Most people don't want to wade through massive topics to get to specific discussions, which is why I allow splinter threads where I can. Although, we discourage it in some cases, like after crashes — there is too little information and too much speculation, so splinter threads would dominate the forum. In the days following the MAX grounding, there were no fewer than two dozen threads created in Civil Aviation alone. There simply wasn't enough available information to warrant so many threads, which is why we consolidated them for everyone's sanity.
If you think that a particular line of discussion warrants its own thread, then please let us know by reporting the first post that could be made into a new topic. We can split specific posts away from a thread into a new topic quite easily. Alternatively, you could create a new topic yourself referencing the other discussion. As long as it's relatively noteworthy info and worthy of its own discussion, we'll probably support it.
Tl;dr — we know it's an issue, and we try our best to find a balance. It will never be to everyone's liking, but our goal is to at least have most people be generally content.